(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device and a method for straightening wire, and, more particularly, the present invention relates to straightening of coiled wire.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In various types of manufacturing equipment, it is necessary to supply the equipment with wire that is precisely straight. Typically, wire is manufactured and then reeled or coiled for ease of storage, shipment and handling. Coiled wires are ordinarily annealed slightly so that the wire retains its coiled shape.
One device for straightening wire is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,770 to Heller. The Heller patent discloses a wire straightener comprising a plurality of banks of wire-guiding rollers. Each bank includes at least three rollers, all aligned in a common plane. The banks of rollers are arranged in angular position to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,309, also to Heller, discloses a wire straightener for straightening coiled wire, wherein a first bank of rollers is positioned in a plane perpendicular to the plane of a second bank of rollers and wherein both banks are held in stationary position with respect to a coil of wire as it is uncoiled.
Other wire straighteners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,724,422 to Siegerist; 2,984,285 to Simich et al; and 3,029,845 to Egedal.
In prior art straighteners, when it is desired to straighten coiled wire, the coil is positioned for rotation adjacent to the straightening device and the wire from the coil is fed into the straightener. The wire being uncoiled has what is known as a "Coil set," that is, the wire has an arcuate bend that lies in a plane, which plane will hereinafter be referred to as the "arc plane." As the coil is unwound, the wire is dispensed from various tangential points along the length of the coil. More specifically, the point at which the wire is dispensed from the coil will continuously move along the length of the coil from one end of the coil to the other ends and then back again to the first end of the coil. Thus, as the wire is uncoiled, the angle of the arc plane of the wire varies with respect to the straightener as the point at which the wire is dispensed from the coil varies along the length of the coil.
It is disadvantageous to have the angle of the arc plane of the wire vary with respect to the staightener for several important reasons. Firstly, the coiled wire may not be straightened within desired tolerances along the entire length of the wire. It should be understood that the position of the rollers is set so as to straighten a wire that is fed into the staightener at a constant angle between the arc plane and the straightener. After the rollers are set, and straightening of the wire begins on a continuous basis, the angle between the arc plane and the straightener of the wire varies from the angle at which the rollers were first set. Thus, the wire leaving the straightener may be straight within certain tolerances for portions of the length of the wire while other portions of the wire may be out of tolerance.
Another disadvantage of feeding the wire into the straightener at varying arc plane angles is that the initial rollers, that is the first, second and third rollers of the straightener are worn quickly because their surfaces are forced to adapt to wires being fed into the straightener at various angles.
Thus, in order to overcome the above described disadvantages, it is an object of the present invention to provide a straightener that maintains a substantially constant angle between the wire arc plane and the plane of the first set of rollers during uncoiling of the wire.
A further disadvantage of the prior art straighteners described in the two Heller patents is that the mechanisms for adjusting the relative positions of the rollers are complex. Further, some of the rollers of prior art devices are stationary and cannot be adjusted. It is an object of the present invention to provide rollers that can be independently adjusted of each other.
A further disadvantage of the wire straighteners described in the Heller patents is that they cannot be readily adapted to receive wire from both a right-hand coil, which is the most prevalent type of coil, or a left-hand coil. It is an object of the present invention to provide a straightener that can straighten wire form either a right-hand coil or a left-hand coil.